Recipe For Gefilte Fish

I would love to have met my great grandparents as I’m sure I would have enjoyed listening to their stories about life in Romania. But, I will have to rely on my imagination to figure out how they lived. Having seen photographs of the Shtetl I can figure out that life was tough. Shtetl is the Yiddish word for a small town where Jewish people lived. My grandfather left Romania as a child, during the Pogroms long before the Shtetl’s were destroyed by the Nazi’s, killing all the people who lived there. Like all food in Jewish culture, gefilte fish has a tradition steeped in biblical times. I can imagine my great grandmother using cheap fish to create a meal for her family, bulking out the meat from fish heads with other ingredients. The gefilte fish would have been served on Shabbat, having been prepared in the morning. Jewish faith prohibits certain activities over the Sabbath, one of them being selecting or choosing, which will include the picking of bones out of fish. For me, gefilte fish is something served at every Seder, the Passover meal. In preparation for this year’s Pesach dinner, I have made baked gefilte fish, which are lighter and tastier than the traditional boiled ones my grandmother made. I hope you will give my version of these fish balls a try, no matter what your faith, as they are really delicious.

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Published by Tandy

I am passionate about using regional, seasonable and sustainable produce when I cook. I live in Gordons Bay with my husband and dogs. Dave and I are busy building a house which is an adventure all in itself. Each year we visit a new place overseas to experience the food of the area. Follow along on our adventures!
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What a fantastic recipe Tandy-I really like gefilte fish. My best friend growing up was Jewish so I had a lot of Jewish foods to eat after school! I wish I could have met my grandparents. I never did so I never knew about a whole generation of my family.